Thresholds

Legal name: The Thresholds

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362518901
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, United States
Phone
(773) 572-5500
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$137,560,763
Expenses
$128,000,512
Assets
$104,644,509
Liabilities
$24,804,767

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

73 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR INGER BURNETT-ZEIGLER (PRESIDENT - THRU 12/31)
  • MARK S ISHAUG (PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARK S ISHAUG (PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $563,071 total reported compensation
  • AL G SHOREIBAH CPA MBA (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $306,098 total reported compensation
  • SUSAN LEESE-BURATTO MD (PSYCHIATRIST): $294,111 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Thresholds provides healthcare, housing, and hope for persons with serious mental illnesses and substance use conditions in Illinois, supporting people to reclaim their lives through care, employment, advocacy, and housing. Opportunity and inclusion are at the heart of our mission to support individuals facing mental health challenges and housing needs. We are dedicated to creating a welcoming environment where every person is valued, supported, and empowered to thrive. By fostering opportunity, removing barriers, and embracing diverse perspectives, we strengthen our ability to deliver compassionate mental health care and housing services to the communities we serve. Who We Serve We believe that the relationship between staff and clients is one of mutual respect, decision-making, and direction.

What it reported doing in 2024

Substance use treatment: thresholds provides outpatient and intensive outpatient substance use treatment with a focus on foundational dimensions of recovery, including health, housing, purpose, and community. Thresholds substance use treatment services are integrated with services for mental health conditions and use a harm reduction approach supporting physical and emotional wellbeing. Last year, thresholds' substance use treatment program served 1,243 individuals with a substance use disorder. Research projects: thresholds' evaluation and research department works to reimagine health care delivery for persons with behavioral health conditions. Research staff collaborate with external university partners to develop and implement cutting edge interventions that work in real world settings and contribute to the literature on behavioral health best practices. The evaluation staff work with internal programs to identify ways of improving member outcomes and care experience while also facilitating a culture of continuous learning within the agency. Together, evaluation and research share a vision to empower those who seek to advance and improve behavioral health by sharing informed and actionable insights for others to implement. Thresholds' youth & young adult services (yayas): offer groundbreaking programs for adolescents, young adults, families, young mothers, and their children. These programs build the skills and supports young people need to manage mental health challenges and strengthen what matters most-relationships, school success, recreation, health and wellness, daily living, and early career experiences. Specializing in the transition to adulthood, yayas provides experiential learning opportunities within the community to help young people reach their fullest potential. The cornerstones of yayas are our innovative and effective employment and education supports. Yayas adapted an evidence-based practice called individual placement and supports (ips) supported employment, specifically fit for youth and young adults with mental health conditions. Supported employment and supported education specialists are integrated into our yayas treatment teams.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.8%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $51.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.9%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.82; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.4%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 81.8% of revenue deployed · 87.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 47 of 47 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $112.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $563K · 73 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.4M reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 19 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 30 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.